Page 2: Watch the solar robot video >>

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By Liz Enbysk

SGN Managing Editor

 

With this week's Solar Power International in Orlando, FL we're seeing a flurry of product announcements as well as some pretty dazzling facts and figures. It's too much information for anyone to wade through, so we did a little culling to come up with the seven quick highlights that appear below. (And here's today's bonus: Click to page 2 for a CNET news video on the solar robot that mechanically pivots solar panels on solar farms.)

 

1. Report cites historic solar growth

In Q2 of this year, the U.S. solar achieved its second-best quarter in history, having installed 742 megawatts of solar power, and the best quarter on record for the utility market segment, according to a new report from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Utility-scale installations hit 477 megawatts in the second quarter, with eight states posting utility install projects of 10 megawatts or greater. In total, the U.S. now has 5,700 megawatts of installed solar capacity, enough to power more than 940,000 households. Get report details >>

 

2. A call for solar and utilities to seek a new regulatory structure

Earlier this week in Orlando, Julia Hamm, President and CEO of the Solar Electric Power Association, urged the “solar industry and the utility industry to invest in the development of a regulatory structure that allows for a new long-term, sustainable utility business model that encourages customers capable of installing solar to do so and rewards utilities that innovate and create a platform on which solar is fully leveraged for its strengths and which ensures the costs and benefits are fairly distributed.” Read more >>

 

3. Itron's push into the solar market

The Liberty Lake, WA company announced a dedicated meter for the solar market. Itron says the revenue-grade solar meter is ideal for monitoring the energy production of residential and commercial solar PV systems. The meter includes Itron cellular communications and associated Itron software. "Solar and the integration of renewable energy into the grid have long been a part of our smart grid vision," said Russ Vanos, an Itron VP. Read the press release >>

 

4. California hits solar milestone

The California ISO reported earlier this month that California surpassed a major milestone during a recent heat wave that hit the sun-soaked state. More than 1,000 megawatts of solar power generation—equal to the size of two large gas-fired power plants—set new U.S. records twice in recent weeks. Read more >>

5. Big box chain stores lead the solar charge

An interesting report from the SEIA and the Vote Solar Initiative, says big chain stores are leading other commercial enterprises in the use of rooftop solar power to meet their energy needs. Based on installed capacity, the report lists the top 5 as: Walmart, Costco, Kohl's, IKEA and Macy's. What's more, the numbers are increasing rapidly. In the first half of 2012, over 3,600 non-residential PV systems went online -- or about one every 72 minutes. Get report details >>

 

6. Utility installations help boost Arizona to No. 2 in solar

In the first three months of this year Arizona solar installations were at 63 MW. In the second three months they grew to 172.7 – a whopping 174% increase that made Arizona number 2 in solar installations in the U.S. behind California but edging out New Jersey. According to a report in the Phoenix Business Journal, much of the increase was driven by utility installations. "Out there in Arizona, there’s a good bit of demand and good land available for utility-scale adoption," noted  Tom Kimbis of the SEIA. Read the article >>

 

7. White paper makes "the capitalist's case" for solar

Executives of Principal Solar Inc. (PSI), which is a publicly traded solar energy trading

company, have just released a white paper they say offers the financial community a solid rationale for investing in solar.  "Investing in the Power of the Sun: The Capitalist Case for Solar Energy" was authored by Michael Gorton, CEO and Chairman of PSI, and Dan Bedell, PSI EVP. “A solid capitalist foundation will be the primary factor driving the coming ‘gold rush’ in solar development, and now is the time for traditional conservative thinking to re-examine the facts about solar energy, explore its potential for delivering more efficient and less costly power, and concurrently create jobs and opportunities that trigger economic growth,” says Gorton. Get the white paper >>

 

More from SGN on solar…

No energy storage = no solar project?

Israel - a land of sunshine, so where's the solar industry?

Fixing the weak link in PV generation - EPRI report focuses on solar inverters

Page 2: Watch the solar robot video >>

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